Thursday, June 18, 2015

This was first published in The Armenian Reporter on October 23, 2009.

I prepared this profile on the request from the Reporter's late publisher Gerard Cafesjian, one of only a handful of things he ever asked me to write over more than eight years working for the Reporter. A fellow early investor in Armenia, Cafesjian clearly felt kinship with Kerkorian. Kerkorian, 98, passed away on June 15. Cafesjian, then 88, preceded him on September 15, 2013.

Kirk Kerkorian: A generous
billionaire and people’s hero

Making a lasting impact on Armenia and the world

By Armenian Reporter staff

Kirk Kerkorian in front of one of his projects in 1969.
Photo courtesy of Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas.

People
in Armenia were asked recently to name individuals they considered their
national heroes. Predictably, the list was dominated by military and political
leaders of the recent and more distant past like Vazgen Sargsyan, Andranik
Ozanian and King Tigran Metz.

The only two contemporaries who were
named by significant numbers of respondents were singer Charles Aznavour and businessman Kirk Kerkorian.

Mr. Kerkorian, 92, a self-made
billionaire is in a category apart in the Armenian world.

He is the only Armenian to be listed among
America’s and the world’s richest people for over a decade. He was, as of 2006,
the richest resident of Los Angeles. He has been the largest individual
contributor to the development of Armenia’s infrastructure and Diaspora’s
institutions. An epitome of Armenians’ entrepreneurial and patriotic spirit, he
is a source of pride for Armenians.

Mr. Kerkorian is also known for his insistent
avoidance of public recognition of his efforts. In a way then publication of this
biographic sketch may also be in contravention to what his wishes may be.

Early life in Saroyan
country

He was born Kerkor Kerkorian in
Fresno in a family of Aharon and Lily Kerkorian, Armenian immigrants with roots
in Kharbert (Harput) in present-day Turkey. Youngest of four children, Kerkor
spoke Armenian at home and learned English in the streets.

Aharon Kerkorian was a watermelon and raisin
farmer, who did well until recession struck in 1921. As was typical of the
times, the younger Kerkorian began working as a kid, selling produce and
newspapers, and later washing, repairing and re-selling cars.

Raised in the years of depression, the young
Kerkorian like many of his contemporaries never went to high school, dropping
out after the eighth grade.

Mr. Kerkorian was only nine years younger
than his famous compatriot and fellow San Joaquin valley native William Saroyan, but it is unclear when
and if their paths had crossed.

In an early claim to fame in 1937, Mr.
Kerkorian became the Pacific amateur boxing champ in welterweight category and
was known as "Rifle Right" for his technique that helped him win 33
fights.

Getting his wings

But it was Kerkorian’s passion for
flying that became his ticket to financial success.

After his first flight on a
single-engine plane, he worked as a cattle ranch hand in exchange for flying
lessons at a school ran by celebrity female aviator “Pancho” Barnes.

During World War II, Mr. Kerkorian
by then a licensed pilot joined the British Royal Air Force as a civilian
contractor flying bombers built in Canada to United Kingdom.

The job was high risk. The bombers’ tanks
could hold fuel enough only for part of the flight, with pilots relying on favorable
winds to glide their aircraft for the remainder of the journey over icy waters.
One in four would not make it. Mr. Kerkorian made 33 flights over two and a
half years.

After the war, he had $12,000 saved,
enough to launch his own aviation business.

In 1947 Mr. Kerkorian paid $60,000
for the Los Angeles Air Service, a small charter airline that flew between Los
Angeles and Las Vegas, which was the just emerging as America’s gambling
capital.

He first sold the airline, which he
renamed Trans International Airlines, in 1962, only to buy it back in 1965 and sell
it again to TransAmerica Corp. for $104 million.

The maker of Las
Vegas

Starting in 1962, Mr. Kerkorian
began investing in Las Vegas real estate. He initially rented and then sold
land to Caesar’s Palace casino, earning $9 million in the process.

After leaving the aviation business,
he built the International and Flamingo hotels in 1969, before selling both to
the Hilton chain the following year. Since his entry into Las Vegas, Mr.
Kerkorian helped change its image into one of a popular and family-friendly
vacation destination.

In 1969, Mr. Kerkorian purchased the
famous Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer (MGM) and later the Universal
Artists studio; the merged MGM/UA was sold to Ted Turner in 1985 for $1.5bn.

Mr. Kerkorian repurchased the studio several
years later for $780mln., only to sell it again for $1.3bn., buy it back again and
finally sell it to Sony for $2.9 billion in 2004.

In 1990, Mr. Kerkorian turned his
attention to America’s ailing automotive giants, purchasing and then selling
large shares in Chrysler and more recently the General Motors and Ford.

Reflecting his aversion to luxury in personal
life, Mr. Kerkorian drives relatively inexpensive American cars, such as Jeep
Grand Cherokee and Ford Taurus. And even as the studio owner, Mr. Kerkorian
reportedly insisted on standing in line and buying movie tickets of his own.

Mr. Kerkorian remains the largest
shareholder in the MGM Mirage, the second largest gaming and resort company in
the world, which owns the current MGM Grand complex, the Bellagio, the Mirage,
the New York-New York, Circus-Circus, Mandalay Bay, The Luxor, Excalibur and
the under-construction CityCenter, all in Las Vegas.

According to Forbes magazine estimates, at its high Mr. Kerkorian’s fortune
amounted to $16 billion before the most recent economic crisis brought it down
to an estimated $3 billion this year.

He remains among America’s 100 richest men
and women.

A grand philanthropist

Mr. Kerkorian is considered one of
America’s most generous billionaires, having given away as much as one-fifth of
his total fortune to charitable causes.
Armenia has been one of the
largest beneficiaries, but Mr. Kerkorian has also been generous to Armenian
Diaspora communities as well as his two homes states of California and Nevada. At
the same time, he has refused to have anything named in his honor.

Mr. Kerkorian’s Diaspora investments
more recently included millions for Lebanon’s Armenian community in 2006 as
well as Armenian Schools in California. In the past Lincy also provided annual
support for the Armenian Assembly of America.

Among major beneficiaries are the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (in part for its recently launched partnership
with Washington-based Brookings Institution); the Clark County School District,
which includes Las Vegas; St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson, Nev.; the
Nevada Cancer Institute; University of California at Irvine and many others.

In addition to direct involvement, the
foundation also supported the Catholic Medical Mission Board which has assisted
Armenia’s healthcare system; the Armenian American Wellness Center; the
Armenian Technology Group involved in agriculture; the Eurasia Foundation that
supports pro-democracy programs, among others. Lincy is also part of the United
Armenian Fund.

On surface, the Lincy’s infrastructure
programs gave the country a sorely needed “face lift”. Most of the money went
into road and housing construction, particularly in the earthquake-ravaged
north of the country, as well as for repairs of Armenia’s public buildings, including
museums.

But more than cosmetics, Mr.
Kerkorian’s money came to Armenia at the time when few others would invest and
total government spending ran at a mere $400 million a year. Lincy program gave
Armenia a boost that helped it regain its self-confidence and attract more
investors, fueling the construction boom of the last decade.

In spite of Mr. Kerkorian’s efforts
these heroics have not gone unnoticed. The recognition offered to him by people
of Armenia speaks for itself.